Didn't make it to the game last night. Figured that if the Camels were going to get a win, this would be the last chance of the year. Anyone with anything specific? Was it the changes the Camels were going to put in? Did they actually make the changes?
They did make the changes but it does not help when you have 5 - 7 turnovers when you are in the red zone 2 or 3 times. Plus there was a botched opening kickoff.
I think the changes will work, Durham at QB and Walsh moved to the wide receiver/H position.
The kids need to start believing in what Lickert and his staff are teaching. I am really not sure what else can be done.
Wow - that many turnovers? Field was not bad was it? WOW!
I like TD at the QB position. Did Walsh play D? That's where he needs to be!
I'm not as much of a fan of Durham as the QB than Walsh, it's just been more of a matter that Walsh has had happy as a quarterback. Walsh is a more gifted thrower and the Camels have talented wide-receivers. If Durham is our quarterback the rest of the year we will completely lose out on the talent on the edges.
Durham is a head-up runner that could be an incredible football player if he ever gets the self-confidence. This is an athlete than could play at the next level at a pretty good program, but he will never be a quarterback. On offense, he is a prototypical H back and on Defense, he could be a better Middle linebacker than an outside linebacker as he has been used over the past three years. He has great speed, but not great football speed. If he would learn to just run, and not worry about finding holes and trying to truck someone, he could be awesome!
Tyler Walsh, I can't lie, is special to me. He's a kid that I hope we can say he reaches his full athletic potential in both football and baseball. There is not a mean, arrogant or selfish bone in his body. And that is what his problem is. If he had the confidence to just go out and play and not be perfect this kid would be the best football player on the field, even better than Durham (IMHO). He has as much skill as I have seen from anyone at CCHS in a while, but he just plays too nicely. I'm not knocking him, but if he had the confidence in himself that others do, he could be awesome ++.
Neither are lacking in the intangible due to coaching. The coaches believe in these kids, but I can see the frustration. That frustration is like what we feel as a parent when you know your child can perform better than what they are shoing, and you just want more for them than what they even want for themselves.
Both kids will be fine and I really like them both!
As for the football game, this game is not as indicative as the score indicates. As CTCX noted, not just the turnovers, but where the turnovers occured is what killed the Camels. When you are in the Red Zone at will and you lose points because of turnovers, you can't be very successful.
What I learned last night was the 5th place in the NKY 6A District gets the honor of playing the #1 team in the country in the first round of the playoffs - T-R-I-N-I-T-Y
Here is my 2 cents on this and take it for what it is worth.
1. It is very hard to replace 18 STARTERS from the previous year. Look at what positions they had to replace, they are probably the hardest to replace. I know Coach Lickert does not want to hear this but it is the truth.
2. They need to set a position for everyone and play the best 11 kids on either side of the ball, FORGET the 2 platoon at this time CCHS does not have the #s or the talent there to do so. They also need to have a good #2 in each position. Even though the first 5 games count against the record, starting on September 30 is when the real season begins for the Camels when they take on Simon Kenton.
3. If they play Walsh at QB he needs to stop the happy feet business. Read the defense and if there is no one open then run but let it take it's course and see what happens. With the shifting of the offense line this past week the blocking was BETTER.
4. If Walsh does NOT play QB then he needs to be on defense as well but no way would I have him playing QB and defense the whole game. Same thing goes for Durham. If he is going to play QB no way should he be playing full time on defense either.
I am hoping the kids can take the bye week and regroup. They need to start believing in what the coaches are teaching them and take it from the practice field to the game field.
Well, a lot of teams have to replace a lot of players each year. It's not so much the number of players, but the lack of Lickert having time to implement a program and system. You can replace 18 players if you have kids that already know your system, style, expectations. So, I won't make excuses because of the number of players that had to be replaced.
As for platooning, it goes back to what I just said, you have to put in YOUR system! If your system is that very few players go both ways, then set the expectation and do that! Let's get players dedicated. This is a 6A school, you don't have very many players play both ways. I don't think you go into this year and say I don't have the talent. As for the numbers, it's a 6A school, you have the numbers. I see so many Juniors and Sophomores on the field, I don't buy that there are not enough players. Sure, every team wants to play their best, but you also have to make the best at a position, let them practice it and perfect it. I hear it every day from the coaches that they don't want to platoon because they can't work with those kids full time and make them the best at the position that they play. For too many years at CCHS we have seen too many players be good, but not great and that's because they cannot spend all of their time perfecting the position that they play. That has been the problem with CCHS football over the past several years, they have not developed talent. They have put talent on the field, but they limited themselves soo much that one injury killed the entire system because it didn't just take one player out, it technically took two out because that person played the other side of the ball as well.
Stardust makes good points, and in a perfect world you would only have players go one way. This years squad is not equipped to do that though, they have no choice but to build around what athletes they have. It's something that the Camels will build towards, but just not this year.
CamelPride Wrote:Stardust makes good points, and in a perfect world you would only have players go one way. This years squad is not equipped to do that though, they have no choice but to build around what athletes they have. It's something that the Camels will build towards, but just not this year.
If not start it this year, then When????
Stardust Wrote:If not start it this year, then When????
You can gradually build into it but I do not think this is the year.
Here is the other thing with trying to replace 18 starters from last year's team, for the most part and for most teams they have kids who have had a good amount of varsity playing the year before CCHS does not have that this year. You can say everyone has to replace that many kids but to be honest CCHS has very few kids on this year's team who played VARSITY last year. These sophomores who are playing/starting did not even play much on JV they only played Freshman, this is a huge step from going from freshman to varsity within one year.
^ You made my argument for me. You have to begin building your program right now. I belive you stick to the plan and change the culture of this team into what you want in the future. I in no way am saying that the Camels are out of it already, but realistically we all know that winning 6A is in the distance. So, is not now the time to building that depth right NOW? There is no bigger support to the Camels than I, so I want what is best for this program, not just now but into the future. For too long, we have watched the same players on the field for the entire game for the entire season. Then we come back the next year and we have to fill in holes with players with no varsity experience. I have seen a change this year. I am seeing more substitutions than I have probably ever seen at CCHS. Let's continue to build on that. Let's not go into next year with saying we lost X number of seniors and now we have to replace those players because we did not do a good job of getting the next batch of players enough time on the field to be ready for the next season.
Don't get me wrong, I see change and that change is awesome! Popp is the starter, but they have no problems at all subbing in the sophomore (name escapes me) at the Running -back position, but Popp spends as many snaps on defense as he does offense. He does a good job on either side of the ball. My question is could he be better if he spent the entire practice focusing on one position? If he is better for your team on defense, then make the sophomore the #1 back, give the sophomore the bulk of the snaps during the seek of first team practice.